Residential

• Improved sentiment saw mass residential capital values trending higher in August, up 2.1% m-o-m and now up 4.2% since the last trough in May.
• August-released data showed home sales reaching an 18-month high of 5,821 in July, as new launches drew the eager interest of buyers.
• Over 98% of the 640 units at The Met. Blossom in Ma On Shan and almost all 760 units made available for sale at Grand YOHO in Yuen Long were sold within a month of being launched.
• A unit at 1 & 3 Ede Road was sold for HKD 153.2 million or HKD 66,812 per sq ft, SA, a record price, in terms of unit rate, for apartments in Kowloon Tong.
• Four of the five residential development sites (TMTL 516, TMTL 547, STTL 609 and YTIL 44) sold via government public tender in August were awarded beyond the higher-end of market expectations. 

Retail

• Inbound tourist arrivals grew 2.6% y-o-y in July, along with a 2.2% y-o-y increase in mainland Chinese visitors, growing for the first time in 13 months. Nevertheless, Individual Visit Scheme arrivals continued to retreat in July, albeit at a more moderate rate of 3.9% y-o-y.
• Retail sales fell 7.7% y-o-y in July, with jewellery & watch purchases registering a double-digit decline for the eleventh consecutive month.
• Chow Tai Fook renewed its lease on a ground-floor shop (7,009 sq ft) at 24 East Point Road in Causeway Bay, reportedly for HKD 2.8 million per month and 49% lower than its previous rental.
• Cheung Kong Property has reportedly sold the retail podium (18,982 sq ft) of a residential tower at Yuccie Square in Yuen Long for HKD 620 million (HKD 32,663 per sq ft). The project is slated to complete by the end of the year.

Industrial

• The value of total exports dropped 5.1% y-o-y in July as goods bound for China declined by 6.4% y-o-y. The value of imports also fell, down 3.3% y-o-y over the same period.
• Despite a 4.7% y-o-y uptick in airfreight cargo in July, container throughput fell for the 20th consecutive month, down 10.6% y-o-y.
• Chinese online retailer Vipshop leased 21,000 sq ft at Global Gateway in Tsuen Wan. Automobile maker Tesla Motors leased 25,000 sq ft at ATL Logistics Centre in Kwai Chung.
• In its revised Planning and Engineering Study for Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area, the government has increased the floor area allocated for industrial and special industrial uses by 23% to 46.4 million sq ft. 

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